Paradise Co slims August gaming revenue decline

Casino revenue at South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd declined 2 percent year-on-year in August, compared to an 8 percent dip in that month the year before, according to a Monday filing by the company to the Korea Exchange.

Judged month-on-month, the firm’s casino revenue dipped 17.4 percent.

August 2018 revenue was approximately KRW51.58 billion (US$46.4 million) compared to around KRW52.65 billion in the equivalent month a year earlier. In July this year the group’s casino revenue had been KRW62.43 billion.

Table games revenue in August was KRW48.09 billion, down 1.1 percent from last August’s KRW48.61 billion. Judged month-on-month in the current year, the decline was 17.7 percent.

Revenue from slot machines this August was down by 13.3 percent year-on-year, to KRW3.50 billion, from KRW4.04 billion in August 2017. In the latter year, the rate of year-on-year increase in such revenue had been sharp, at 65.5 percent.

For the first eight months of 2018, casino revenue increased by 19.7 percent, totalling nearly KRW410 billion as against KRW342.54 billion during the same period last year.

Aggregate table and slot machine revenues remained robust for January to August this year, growing by 19.9 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. Accumulated table revenue reached KRW381.60 billion from January to August, from KRW318.21 billion during the prior-year period; while accumulated slot machine revenue for the first eight months of 2018 totalled KRW28.40 billion, from KRW 24.3 billion during the prior-year period.

Table drop – the amount of cash exchanged by customers in exchange for chips at the casino table – rose 6 percent year-on-year in August, to just under KRW501 billion. For January to August, such table drop rose 13.4 percent year-on-year, to nearly KRW3.71 trillion.

The figures were collated from the company’s four foreigner-only casinos: Walkerhill in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; Busan Casino in Busan; and Paradise City in Incheon (pictured).

Paradise Co slimmed the year-on-year decline in total gaming revenue seen in August 2017. Some of that decline had been attributed by investment analysts to Chinese tourists staying away from South Korea after that country’s row with China over a U.S.-supplied missile defence system.

China suspended package tours to South Korea in March last year in protest against South Korea’s decision to deploy the weaponry, given the proximity of Chinese territory. Tensions between the two countries were said to have eased after South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s visit to China last December.

The tally of inbound Chinese tourists to South Korea increased by 1.8 percent in the first seven months of this year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.